As innovative and ingenious as most cryptocurrencies may be, there is still one of the main challenges that most of them are trying to overcome, and that is scalability. This is a problem that currently affects the most complex and large crypto platforms.
Scalability can be defined as the ability of a network to process transactions in a predefined (or shorter) period. The two most obvious examples are Bitcoin and Ethereum. In the case of Bitcoin, the enormous number of transactions that need to be processed has increased so much that the network has simply reached its limits. Therefore, Bitcoin has one of the slowest and most expensive transaction rates in any crypto project.
Although the case of Ethereum is a little different, the results are almost the same, and the problem becomes more than obvious when the whole ecosystem stopped for almost a week when the CryptoKitties madness began in late December 2017. In short, the problem arises that network growth makes it harder to reach consensus.
However, there is one crypto platform that is designed from the ground up to take this problem into account and actually solve it in a very ingenious way. This project is named Zilliqa (ZIL).
What is Zilliqa?
an ambitious, modern-day cryptocurrency project that relies on sharpness, as well as technology that allows its blockchain to change linearly, unlimitedly, and efficiently as the ecosystem grows in size. In theory, Zilliqa has no limit on the number of transactions it can process per second.
What is probably most striking about Zilliq is the fact that it manages to process tens of thousands of transactions per second (just like all traditional digital payment solutions), while still being able to run smart contracts on a tight network.
How does Zilliqa actually solve the problem of scalability?
To improve scalability, most blockchain projects increase block size. This allows multiple transactions to be confirmed in each consensus round. Another solution is to move blockchain data. These measures, however effective in the short term, cannot solve the problem of scalability.
Zilliq’s solution, on the other hand, solves the scalability problem by allowing a redesign of the entire blockchain architecture. This means that network size and network speed are not directly or inversely related.
Sharing Zilliqe, DS Epoch and DS Board
An easy way to think about it is that Zilliq’s blockchain is rearranging its architecture from scratch. The platform uses a hybrid consensus protocol that increases the flow from every additional 600 nodes.
Therefore, one of Zilliq’s distinguishing features is the fact that it is linearly scalable, which means that as the number of nodes in the network increases, the flow increases at an almost linear rate.
Zilliqa also uses a unique feature based on the concept of sharpness. Sharpening can be defined as the process by which a network is divided into smaller consensus groups called debris. Each debris can process transactions in parallel, allowing them to ultimately process multiple transactions. Just to have an idea of how effective this technology is, in the early days of its Testnet, Zilliqa recorded a flow 250 times higher than that in Ethereum.
Each debris creates a microblock with all the transactions it processes. Zilliq’s team called the end of the parallel processing period the DS Epoch. DS Epoch means that microblocks are combined into a complete block, which is added to the blockchain at the same time.
Another concept worth discussing is the DS concept. According to the Zilliq team, DS Epoch has a DS board. The DS board is a small group of randomly selected nodes that manage all other debris – it basically decides which transactions will be assigned to which debris.
Zilliq’s consensus mechanism
One of the most important features of Zilliqa is the consensus mechanism. It uses a Proof-of-Work mechanism that focuses only on establishing mining identities. Most interestingly, Zilliqa does not rely on the traditional consensus protocol. Instead, it uses the Byzantine Error Tolerance Consensus Protocol (pBFT) to enable more efficient management of storage requirements. To simplify the concept as much as possible, this consensus protocol makes it so that the entire transaction history does not have to be saved to the blockchain, resulting in more efficient management and storage requirements.
Zilliq’s custom programming language
The fact that Zilliqa has also created its own custom programming language should come as no surprise, especially considering how innovative the platform is. The agreed programming language called Scilla has the ability to separate the state and function of smart contracts, making functional programming more secure and standardized.
The disadvantage of this particular programming language is the fact that it is not Turing’s complete. Therefore, it cannot be used to create applications, especially applications that require conditional statements and various types of loops.
ZIL token
As might be expected, Zilliqa also has its own token, the so-called . The ZIL token has the same purpose as most tokens: it is used to encourage mining, as a means of paying transaction fees, and it can also be used as a gas to execute contracts. ZIL is an ERC-20 token, still running on the Ethereum blockchain.
ZIL can be bought, sold and traded on a large number of exchanges such as , Upbit, Bithumb, KuCoin and Huobi.pro. Of course, after starting Zilliqa’s main network, the token will be exchanged for Zilliqa’s parent tokens.
Testnet i Mainnet
Zilliqa recently launched its Testnet 2.0 and has made a number of improvements. The team worked to improve infrastructure stability and offer better support for smart contracts. In addition, users can now benefit from a Scylla wallet that will allow them to place their own smart contracts on their own test network.
Testnet v2.0 – Code Name: D24 is here. You can read a detailed description on our blog here
– Zilliqa (@zilliqa)
Although the launch of Mainnet was scheduled for the second and then the third quarter of 2018, the team postponed the launch to ensure delivery of the high-quality product. The team is currently working hard to launch Mainnet which will take place at the end of the year or in January 2019.